Thought I would post a new one before I got into hiding at the library. I have a HUGE midterm next week so I'll be holed up in the library for a while. Wish me luck! (I'm going to need it! Science is hard!)

Many, many, many thanks for the lovely reviews I got from xxxlil-miss-mercerxxx, Lola427 (I'm glad you caught the reference. :) I love the Sandlot!), Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, MistressxCandelightsxChaos (This chapter is two pages longer! :]), and tfatfreak207! You guys are awesome! :D

Let me know what you think of this chapter...

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 20: Phone Calls and Pillows

By: LoveInk

That night, Vince walked into Alex's house completely exhausted. He threw himself onto her couch and closed his eyes. The day at the garage had been hell. Not only had Dominic bitched about Mia inviting Alex to Race Wars, but the buster had come in to work on that piece of shit he called a car. As soon as he walked in, everyone dropped what they were doing to go help. Not him, though, he stayed fixing the Subaru he was working on. He didn't want anything to do with that ugly orange car.

He had just sat down when he heard Alex's loud scream of pain. "Ow! Stop!"

Jumping off the couch, he bolted to her bedroom, scared that the Trans had finally found out where she lived and come to get her. Instead, he found her sitting on her bed in front of Mia while the other girl curled her hair. "Sorry! Sorry!" she exclaimed slapping Alex's hand away as she tried to touch her ear.

"You burned me!" Alex whined, wincing in pain.

"What the hell?" Vince asked, panting slightly from his sprint.

Mia smiled at the look of relief that washed over Vince's face. He'd obviously been concerned about Alex when he heard her scream. "I'm curling her hair and she's being a baby about it."

"She burned me!" she exclaimed, ringlets bouncing as she moved her head out of Mia's grasp.

Vince snickered. "You look like Shirley Temple," he teased.

"Oh hell no," Alex said, getting off the bed and running to her mirror. Half of her head was curled in tight ringlets instead of the loose waves Mia had promised her. "Mia! Why?"

Mia glared at Vince before getting off the bed and heading towards Alex, curling iron in hand. "They'll calm down by tomorrow. Relax."

Vince whistled the tune to the classic Shirley Temple song, "Animal Crackers" as he walked away. Grinning when he heard Alex growl, "I'm gonna kill you Mia!"

"Just let me finish it!" Mia defended.

He shook his head at the girls, heading towards the kitchen. He started making himself a sandwich when he saw Alex's phone vibrating on the counter. Curious, he picked it up to see who it was. A sense of dread filled him when he read the name on the caller i.d. "Eddie," he mumbled to himself. What was that punk doing calling her? He pressed the answer key before he could stop himself. "Yeah?"

"Alex?" a smooth voice came over the end.

"No. Do I sound like Alex to you?"

"No. You must be her new boy toy."

"You sound jealous, Freddie," Vince stated getting his name wrong on purpose.

"It's Eddie," he corrected sounding annoyed.

Vince smirked. "Whatever. What are you doing calling her?"

He snickered in response. "Oh, she didn't tell you we've been talking?"

Vince blanched. No, she hadn't mentioned that. Though she had gotten that phone call the other day in the store, and she had left very quickly to answer it. Could it have been Eddie? "She may have mentioned it," he lied smoothly. "I didn't really care."

"Bet you care now," Eddie teased. "I'm sorry I've never met you. Ronnie says you're…delightful. Though totally not her type. Bad boy, huh? She's probably using you to get attention from her father."

"I doubt that," Vince said on a chuckle. He had met Alex's dad once when he came to do some business in Los Angeles, and they had hit it off instantly.

"You know you're just a phase, Vince," he stated confidently. "She's better than you and once she finally realizes that, it'll be over. She'll be back to me in a heartbeat."

Vince chuckled, though the thought had occurred to him before, he wasn't going to give Eddie that satisfaction. "Is that so? Want to tell me why she chose to stay here then?"

"I told you. A phase. Nothing more," Eddie answered flippantly. "Now, can I please speak with her?"

"No," he returned before hanging up the phone. He stared at the small piece of plastic in his hand as he replayed the conversation in his head. What if Eddie was right? What if this was just a phase to her? Maybe that's why she was talking to Eddie behind his back; she wanted Eddie to be around once she was done with him.

Shaking his head, he headed off to her room, her phone still in his hand. It buzzed again and Eddie's name came on the caller i.d.. "Hey Alex," he said, catching her attention. "Phone."

Alex studied his face briefly while she took the phone from him. He rarely called her by her real name, choosing to use it only when something was wrong or he was mad. She glanced down at the vibrating phone and saw the name. Oh, this is why he's mad, she thought to herself. Sighing, she pressed the answer button before hitting the hang up button. Something she'd been doing a lot with Eddie's phone calls lately. She was just so sick of hearing his bullshit.

Mia looked between Alex and Vince curiously, watching Vince's eyes follow her every movement. She could tell Vince was pissed by the way his shoulders were tensed, arms crossed over his chest. The phone vibrated again and Vince nodded to it. "Go ahead, answer it," he urged.

Alex knew he was challenging her, could tell by the way his blue eyes were staring her down. "I don't want to."

"I think you should."

"I think I'm gonna go," Mia said, unplugging the curling iron and grabbing her bag before practically running out the door.

Vince and Alex didn't pay her any notice. "Why should I?"

"Because apparently you two have been talking a lot."

She narrowed her eyes at him. It wasn't true, but she was curious as to how he'd gotten the idea. "Who told you that?"

"He did."

"You answered my phone!" she accused, her eyes wide in disbelief.

He nodded, shrugging a shoulder as though it was no big deal. "Yeah, and he said you've been talking."

"That's a complete invasion of my privacy, Vince!" she shouted at him, standing up from the bed. She was angry now. How dare he! She'd done nothing wrong. Nothing that should make him distrust her enough to answer her phone! "What the hell were you thinking? I don't answer your phone!"

"That's not the point."

She nodded exaggeratedly. "Oh yes it is! Whether I talk to him or not is my business not yours!" she yelled at him.

"So you were talking to him?"

"No!" she shouted. "I wasn't. It doesn't matter anyway! I have known Eddie and Ron for a very long time. If I want to talk to them, I'm going to talk to them!"

"I don't have a problem with Ron, Alex," Vince said, trying to keep from getting angrier. "You know who I have a problem with."

"Eddie? Really?" she exclaimed, going to run her hands through her hair. Her fingers got caught on the curls and she had to tug them out. If he wasn't so mad at her, he would've laughed.

Vince nodded. "Yeah, really. Why shouldn't I?"

"Um, I don't know, because you trust me, maybe?" Alex shot back, more frustrated than angry. "Vince, it's over between me and Ed. I told you already."

"Then why are you still talking to him!"

"I'm not!"

"Why is he calling your phone then?"

"Because he wants to talk to me!" She wanted to hit him then, smack some sense into him. This whole fight was just going in circles. There was no way it could end well. "I'm not cheating on you, Vince. I wouldn't do that! I'm not that type of girl!"

"You are! You cheated on Eddie with me! Or do you not remember?"

Alex gasped and he instantly regretted saying it. Her eyes narrowed angrily. "Are you serious?"

He nodded, though he had a feeling this was not going to turn out well for him. "Isn't it true?"

"Screw you, Vince!" she shouted, her curls bouncing up and down as she moved to push him out of the room. "The only reason I cheated on Eddie with you was because I had feelings for you from the moment I saw you! And yes, I was wrong, I shouldn't have kissed you, but it was an accident! And I didn't even initiate it, you did! So it was your fault, you stupid head!"

"You think he won't initiate something?" Vince shouted. Couldn't she see? "Calling you is the initiation, Alex!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, her fists clenching angrily. "Get out of here," she said her voice deathly calm. It was then he understood just how angry she was with him. She'd never kicked him out before, usually the found a way to sort it out. This time, she wasn't even willing to do that. "Just get out."

He had a feeling if he left, he would risk losing her, and that was not a risk he was willing to take. Not again. "No."

"I said leave!" she shouted, grabbing her pillow and throwing it at him.

He winced, more because of the sentiment behind the pillow then because it hurt him. "A pillow? Really?"

She picked up another one and hit him with it. "Get out!" He took the beating, trying his best not to smile. She looked so cute with her curls bouncing up and down as she hit him with the pillow. Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore and he laughed. "Are you laughing at me?" she asked, pulling away, her brows wrinkled in confusion.

"No," he said, trying to make his face serious. It didn't last long, and he laughed as she hit him again.

"I can't believe you're laughing right now!" she shouting, hitting him once again. "I'm mad at you, stupid!"

He leant forward, catching her chin in his hand and pressing a kiss to her lips. She let him kiss her for all of ten seconds before she hit him with the pillow again. "Nuh-uh, you can't just kiss your way out of this one, Vincent Cash!"

He grabbed her hips, pulling her in for another kiss and was met with a pillow to the face. "C'mon, Tiny."

"No! I am mad at you!" she shouted, a small smile tugging at her lips before she got serious. This was a big issue, not once he could just kiss away. "You answered my phone, Vincent! That's not right. Would you want me to answer your phone when Dom called?"

He frowned. "No," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"You'd be pissed," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why'd you do it?"

He sighed, shrugging a shoulder. "I don't know." The look on her face told him she didn't buy it. Her green eyes studied him, knowing there was a better explanation. And there was. He knew exactly why he picked up the phone; he saw the name and freaked out a little. He didn't like the idea that Eddie was waiting in the wings to swoop in whenever possible.

Alex fought the urge to roll her eyes when she saw the insecurity in his, she understood now. She could only imagine what Eddie had said to him. Sighing, she dropped the pillow before looping her fingers through his belt loops, pulling him closer. "Big guy, I could be in Europe right now with my best friends, but I'm not. I'm here with you. What does that tell you?"

"That I'm an asshole," he muttered, running a hand over his hair, spiking it up more than before. He tugged on one of her curls, grinning when it bounced out of his hand. "I shouldn't have done it."

She smiled and nodded. "Are you going to do it again?"

"No, ma'am," he said, a smirk turning up the corner of his mouth. "Is he going to call again?"

Alex grimaced before sighing. She pulled the vibrating phone from her pocket and showed it to him. "Yes. Again and again until I answer and if I don't, he takes Ronnie's phone and calls me from there."

"Can I answer it one more time? Please?"

She pressed the phone into his hand. "Only because you asked so nicely…and I'm curious."

Vince grinned wolfishly as he answered the phone. "She's not interested. Call again and I'll knock every one of your teeth out. We'll see how good you can sing then. Have a nice night."

You like? Just killin' some time before the heists since about two days took place between Mia's date and Race Wars... ;)

Let me know what you think!

~LoveInk